Egypt Approves Military Support for Saudi Arabia
Lawmakers gave President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi authority to help defend the kingdom against Houthi attacks if Riyadh asks, without saying what forces would go, as Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish officials held talks in Tehran.
Egypt's parliament has authorized President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to provide military support to defend Saudi Arabia against attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement, if the kingdom asks for help. The vote, taken behind closed doors, lets el-Sisi take necessary measures, in coordination with Riyadh, to protect Saudi territory and sovereignty from outside attack, according to parliament's statement. It does not say what forces Egypt would send, how many or for how long, and it does not announce any deployment. El-Sisi has said any Egyptian role would be limited to defending Saudi territory and borders, with no attacks on Yemen. A regional official told the Associated Press that Egypt would send air defense systems and aircraft, not ground troops. The same day, Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan's army chief and Turkey's intelligence chief met Iran's president in Tehran. They agreed only to keep talking, Iranian state media reported, while the Houthis claimed new strikes on a Saudi oil pipeline and Riyadh's airport.
What the vote does and does not do
Egypt's House of Representatives authorized President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to support Saudi Arabia in defending itself against an external "aggression," should Riyadh request assistance, according to parliamentary statements reported by the AP and Reuters. Euronews reported that the statement said the measure passed with the two-thirds majority Egypt's constitution requires before the armed forces can be sent on combat missions abroad. The AP said parliament gave no breakdown of the vote, held behind closed doors.
The authorization does not name units, numbers, a time limit or a cost, and parliament did not announce that any troops were being sent. That gap drew questions in the chamber. The opposition Egyptian Social Democratic Party said its 11-member bloc would abstain, citing too little information about the mission's goals, scope, duration and costs and the risks to Egyptian troops, and urged diplomacy to avoid an open-ended commitment, the AP reported.
A regional official briefed on the matter told the AP, on condition of anonymity, that Egypt would deploy air defense systems and aircraft to help stop missiles and drones fired at Saudi Arabia, and that the support would not include ground troops in Yemen. Egyptian officials have not confirmed that on the record.
How it got here
El-Sisi asked parliament for the authority on October 17. Lawmakers met in closed sessions on October 18 and 19 and then postponed the decision, Euronews reported. The AP said the delay reflected growing wariness among Egyptians about being drawn into Yemen's war. Egypt's National Defense Council, which el-Sisi chairs, had already pledged "all necessary and possible forms of support" to Saudi Arabia.
El-Sisi has tried to reassure the public. "I have heard a great deal of talk suggesting that we are preparing to launch an attack on Yemen, or something to that effect. That is certainly not the case," he said last week, according to the AP. "Our focus is on the defense of the kingdom's territory and its borders." On October 17, Yahya al-Raei, speaker of the Houthi-controlled parliament in Sanaa, warned Egypt that military involvement would endanger its own security, Euronews reported.
Saudi Arabia is one of Egypt's main financial backers, through aid, investment, energy supplies and deposits at Egypt's central bank. Egypt joined the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen in 2015, mainly with naval vessels, and did not send ground troops. Egypt has said it is considering joining the Mecca pact, a mutual defense agreement that Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed in August, Reuters reported.
Talks in Tehran
As parliament voted, Prince Khalid bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's defense minister, Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Turkey's intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. Reuters called it the first high-level contact between Iran and the three pact countries since the war that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Saudi Arabia said the visit was meant to open negotiating channels to "prevent the return of military escalation." At the end, the four countries agreed to continue talks on peace and security, Iranian state media reported. No other agreement was announced. A senior Pakistani security official told Reuters the agenda included U.S.-Iran talks, the Houthi attacks, the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, and another Pakistani official said Munir, with President Trump's go-ahead to try diplomacy, had offered Iran a proposal he did not describe.
Attacks continue
The Houthis said they attacked pumping stations on Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia did not immediately confirm those claims. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a missile headed for Riyadh and destroyed Houthi missile launchers in Yemen, Euronews reported. The fighting threatens shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern entrance to the Red Sea and the route to Egypt's Suez Canal.